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Back from the dead
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I was shocked when I read an article about student loans where this professor owed over a million dollars, that's $1,000,000 after all fees and interest combined! Here's an excerpt from: Student loan horror stories: What's the worst that can happen?
Matthew Bridges* is a 65-year-old college professor who teaches science classes online. He's also, in his words, "a fugitive" because an insurmountable level of student loan debt has upended his entire world.
By his creditors' last tally, Bridges owes a jaw-dropping $1.75 million in student loans. To escape unrelenting harassment from debt collectors, Bridges fled the country in 2006 to live and work in the Philippines.
Bridges spoke to WalletPop recently during a brief visit back to the U.S., where he shared his story and explained why he took the drastic step of leaving his homeland. For starters, his college debt load wasn't always so staggering.
Bridges first earned a science degree in 1984 and later obtained a PhD. in 1996 from a for-profit college in Texas. By the time he finished his doctorate, Bridges owed $104,000 in student loans.
Over the course of more than 25 years, however, interest on all his loans has compounded, and late fees plus penalties have been tacked on to what he owed. Some interest rates were as high as 29.99%, and collection charges of roughly 25% have been added to his debt, he says. "I'll never be able to earn my way out of this problem," says Bridges.
Because he is dyslexic and suffered various physical ailments, Bridges endured long bouts of unemployment throughout his career. At one point in his earlier years, "I was eating out of a dumpster," he recalls.
Later, when he earned his PhD at age 51, his employment prospects still didn't improve much. "No university wanted to hire anyone 51," he says. "They wanted to hire people who were 30."
It's only been in the past seven years, after being diagnosed as a lifelong dyslexic and getting medication from a Veterans Administration hospital, that he's been able to work steadily. He says his income has ranged from $20,000 to $50,000 annually, with 2009 being his "best year ever."
Still, his earnings aren't enough to even pay the interest on his student loans.
Well, if he is making good 30-50k in US money online, he's living VERY well in the Philippines.
A couple years ago, I dated a woman who was in law school. We got along very well, but I knew there was NO way I had a future with her, and that became evident when she told me her total amount of debt. She was in, with both undegrad and law school, over 100k. Furthermore, the law school was mediocre in standing. I was getting my second BS in Physics and was paying out of pocket and working. No debt but there was no way I was going to take on her commitment. It was as if we had a couple of kids, without the kids. I can see how this will affect relationships in the long term.....
I borrowed 24K for my B.A., which is nearly paid off now, and am about to start my MS.Ed. (required for my job), but am not borrowing to complete that. Pretty good deal, all around, especially considering that I got about three years of undergrad free and clear, thanks to grants and scholarships.
About $50k total...and that's with the $10k per year scholarship I received for the 4 years I have attended college. I'm majoring in Information Technology and went to a public university.
$0 here and I got both my B.S. and PhD at the #2 ranked school in the country for my engineering field, behind MIT.
Parents paid for undergrad (hooray) which allowed me to focus on my studies so I kicked some butt and went to grad school where I got paid for doing research and also had tuition waived.
Now, I own a brand new car (paid off by myself with money I saved up over the years) and will be making six figures starting in two months and I'm just 25.
I put in crazy amounts of work during high school/ college/ grad school (had no life) and it seems to have payed off. COMPLETELY grateful to my folks for setting me up so nicely. Someone up there must like me
Upon graduation I owed about 60k for a four year in-state public school engineering degree . . .
Only about 15k was under my name, the rest came from parent loans which I have to pay. I got some scholarship money but this particular in state school was EXPENSIVE. Each of my parents had a big enough salary to be approved for student loans, but neither of them have paid a dime toward the loans or college expenses for any of their kids since they are terrible with their money. I worked when I could, but I never made much. In hindsight I should've tried much harder to get a decent paying job during school and worked many more hours, but if I did my GPA probably would've taken a hit.
I'm now on an engineering salary so I can live somewhat comfortably but the payments are still really steep (significantly more expensive than my rent!) I'm stuck making minimum payments until I get a raise or I risk going into the red every month. I graduated almost 2 years ago now.
In my case going to college right after high school probably wasn't the most financially responsible thing I could've done, and I'm sure paying for it now.
A couple years ago, I dated a woman who was in law school. We got along very well, but I knew there was NO way I had a future with her, and that became evident when she told me her total amount of debt. She was in, with both undegrad and law school, over 100k. Furthermore, the law school was mediocre in standing. I was getting my second BS in Physics and was paying out of pocket and working. No debt but there was no way I was going to take on her commitment. It was as if we had a couple of kids, without the kids. I can see how this will affect relationships in the long term.....
It took awhile for me to get to this post but like you, I would never have married someone with all of that student loan debt. I worked all through high school and I worked all through college and I went to schools I could afford.
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